"... And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ" (Romans 8:9, NIV).
"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God' (Romans 8:14, NIV).
"I can do all things through him who gives me strength" (Phil. 4:13, NIV).
"To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20, NKJV).
Some churches require would-be members to give their testimonies as a condition for joining the assembly of believers. Too often this gets out of control and people get carried away glorifying their past sins and want to portray themselves as the worst sinner since the apostle Paul, the chief of sinners. Sometimes testimonies do the opposite of the spectrum and are just watered-down bios of about their so-called spiritual journeys (just giving the facts of baptism, going to a crusade, reading the Bible, raising your hand, responding to an altar call gives no details worth knowing about how to get saved--these don't save!), but leave out the essentials: (1) What was their life like before getting saved? (If they don't know how to get saved, how do we vouch for their salvation?) (2) How did they come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? (3) What is their life like now that Jesus is in charge? These three questions are crucial because they nurture and feed the seeker so that he can get saved too. This is one of the best opportunities to present the gospel one may ever encounter and it's a shame that one misses the chance to materialize it and seize the moment. Just letting them think they've jumped over one more hurdle does them no favors in the long term--it's short-sighted!
How they went to church since a child and grew up in the faith and seemed to inherit salvation is irrelevant or paraphrastic, (this is nice to know, but not a testimony)--I want to know how they got saved! The words sin, repent, and saving faith all by regeneration or a born-again experience by the Spirit is a requisite. To be remiss to mention them is a sin of omission because sin is missing the mark or falling short of the ideal of God' biblical standard.
If anything is worth doing at all, it's worth doing right and well. I know that the elders may be convinced of their conversion, that they are believers and saved by virtue of personal fellowship, but this is the church's opportunity to judge and discern--just talking the talk and using the jargon of the church doesn't make one a believer. What I'm saying is that if it's just an introduction to get to know the person, and then a vote up or down, based on whether they like the person, it shouldn't be called giving salvation testimonies, because they aren't biblical--these are life stories, church histories, or religious experiences. It's not just the church's opportunity or ratification of the elders' decision, it's a special occasion for the prospective member.
I am especially suspicious of those who are too shy to even read a testimony to the church, though some may disagree on this nonessential point, because Paul said explicitly in Romans 10:9-10, NIV, this proclamation: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for it is with the heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." This says nothing about proxy testimony for the shy. Also, note that Jesus expressly said in Matt. 10:32 that whosoever acknowledges or professes Him before others, He will acknowledge before the Father in heaven. Of course, this doesn't mean you can get legalistic and deny membership on this basis, but it should be encouraged because it's for their own assurance and sooner or later they will have to profess Christ orally before men. Remember, it's always the devil who's trying to get into the fellowship some other way besides through the gate and some churches sure make it easy for him to worm his way in.
Those too shy at heart must realize that God doesn't give a spirit of timidity according to 2 Tim. 1:7! A real sign of the Spirit is a bold and fearless testimony! I realize some people are not gifted at public speaking and are shy by nature, but God changes that and its membership shouldn't be made as easy as talking the talk without any fruit or even explanation of how the conversion happened in detail. Saying something like, "I was saved when I was five!" means nothing to the seeker or member wondering how to get saved--no one just gets saved by osmosis or because they were born into the right family--it's a turnstile, not something inherited. We don't get saved en masse like being a member of the right church either, God doesn't save churches or families, but individuals. It can become a meeting whereby members are just getting to know the prospects and voting on whether they approve of them or not, without any doctrinal information exchanged.
Good testimonies are not just a few lines of Christian lingo showing one has grown up in the faith and has earned the right to become a member, but an illustration of the gospel: what it was like before salvation; how one got saved; and what's it like afterward that's made a difference. These are the essentials of biblical testimony and to omit them is a dereliction of duty and indicates a lack of guidance. If a church is to fail to train in giving biblical testimony, then it shouldn't call them testimonies, but life story or church history, because they are serving another purpose, the prospects are being admitted because the elders believe them, and it's assumed they are already believers and there should be no reasonable objections.
Voting by the church assembly is unnecessary in light of the fact that they are already virtual members when the elders deem them saved, unless testimonies are to be taken seriously they are futile, but serve as a time to get to know the person better, but not any concrete evidence of salvation. In Revelation "they overcame by the word of their testimony" (cf. Rev. 12:11, NIV); this is not just clinging to some childhood experience like telling the people you were saved at five or even that you responded to an altar call (the church may not believe in them)--this has no inherent spiritual impact or convicting power! The overcoming power is in the gospel (cf. Rom. 1: 16) and the experience one has with it through the Spirit (cf. Phil. 4:13).
The dynamic of church membership should be straightforward and not pretend to be what it's not (they're not fooling God, who sees through the veneer and masquerade)--it shouldn't be majority rule, for it is seldom the voice of God. The accord of the elders and unity of the body one in the Spirit and mission should pass judgment, with the personal rights: "I dissent, I disagree, I protest," according to our legacy a Protestants.
We need to adjourn the methodology of welcoming members aboard by virtue of talking the talk and knowing some jargon, but be forthcoming about what we are doing and teach the biblical way including renouncing sin, having saving faith, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit; for we are members of The Way--let's proceed like we know it (and I'm not being nitpicky), instead of performing a sham for God, trying to make people feel good. Call it what it is (and it's not certifying salvation), and do it the right, biblical way. Soli Deo Gloria!
"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God' (Romans 8:14, NIV).
"I can do all things through him who gives me strength" (Phil. 4:13, NIV).
"To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20, NKJV).
Some churches require would-be members to give their testimonies as a condition for joining the assembly of believers. Too often this gets out of control and people get carried away glorifying their past sins and want to portray themselves as the worst sinner since the apostle Paul, the chief of sinners. Sometimes testimonies do the opposite of the spectrum and are just watered-down bios of about their so-called spiritual journeys (just giving the facts of baptism, going to a crusade, reading the Bible, raising your hand, responding to an altar call gives no details worth knowing about how to get saved--these don't save!), but leave out the essentials: (1) What was their life like before getting saved? (If they don't know how to get saved, how do we vouch for their salvation?) (2) How did they come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? (3) What is their life like now that Jesus is in charge? These three questions are crucial because they nurture and feed the seeker so that he can get saved too. This is one of the best opportunities to present the gospel one may ever encounter and it's a shame that one misses the chance to materialize it and seize the moment. Just letting them think they've jumped over one more hurdle does them no favors in the long term--it's short-sighted!
How they went to church since a child and grew up in the faith and seemed to inherit salvation is irrelevant or paraphrastic, (this is nice to know, but not a testimony)--I want to know how they got saved! The words sin, repent, and saving faith all by regeneration or a born-again experience by the Spirit is a requisite. To be remiss to mention them is a sin of omission because sin is missing the mark or falling short of the ideal of God' biblical standard.
If anything is worth doing at all, it's worth doing right and well. I know that the elders may be convinced of their conversion, that they are believers and saved by virtue of personal fellowship, but this is the church's opportunity to judge and discern--just talking the talk and using the jargon of the church doesn't make one a believer. What I'm saying is that if it's just an introduction to get to know the person, and then a vote up or down, based on whether they like the person, it shouldn't be called giving salvation testimonies, because they aren't biblical--these are life stories, church histories, or religious experiences. It's not just the church's opportunity or ratification of the elders' decision, it's a special occasion for the prospective member.
I am especially suspicious of those who are too shy to even read a testimony to the church, though some may disagree on this nonessential point, because Paul said explicitly in Romans 10:9-10, NIV, this proclamation: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for it is with the heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." This says nothing about proxy testimony for the shy. Also, note that Jesus expressly said in Matt. 10:32 that whosoever acknowledges or professes Him before others, He will acknowledge before the Father in heaven. Of course, this doesn't mean you can get legalistic and deny membership on this basis, but it should be encouraged because it's for their own assurance and sooner or later they will have to profess Christ orally before men. Remember, it's always the devil who's trying to get into the fellowship some other way besides through the gate and some churches sure make it easy for him to worm his way in.
Those too shy at heart must realize that God doesn't give a spirit of timidity according to 2 Tim. 1:7! A real sign of the Spirit is a bold and fearless testimony! I realize some people are not gifted at public speaking and are shy by nature, but God changes that and its membership shouldn't be made as easy as talking the talk without any fruit or even explanation of how the conversion happened in detail. Saying something like, "I was saved when I was five!" means nothing to the seeker or member wondering how to get saved--no one just gets saved by osmosis or because they were born into the right family--it's a turnstile, not something inherited. We don't get saved en masse like being a member of the right church either, God doesn't save churches or families, but individuals. It can become a meeting whereby members are just getting to know the prospects and voting on whether they approve of them or not, without any doctrinal information exchanged.
Good testimonies are not just a few lines of Christian lingo showing one has grown up in the faith and has earned the right to become a member, but an illustration of the gospel: what it was like before salvation; how one got saved; and what's it like afterward that's made a difference. These are the essentials of biblical testimony and to omit them is a dereliction of duty and indicates a lack of guidance. If a church is to fail to train in giving biblical testimony, then it shouldn't call them testimonies, but life story or church history, because they are serving another purpose, the prospects are being admitted because the elders believe them, and it's assumed they are already believers and there should be no reasonable objections.
Voting by the church assembly is unnecessary in light of the fact that they are already virtual members when the elders deem them saved, unless testimonies are to be taken seriously they are futile, but serve as a time to get to know the person better, but not any concrete evidence of salvation. In Revelation "they overcame by the word of their testimony" (cf. Rev. 12:11, NIV); this is not just clinging to some childhood experience like telling the people you were saved at five or even that you responded to an altar call (the church may not believe in them)--this has no inherent spiritual impact or convicting power! The overcoming power is in the gospel (cf. Rom. 1: 16) and the experience one has with it through the Spirit (cf. Phil. 4:13).
The dynamic of church membership should be straightforward and not pretend to be what it's not (they're not fooling God, who sees through the veneer and masquerade)--it shouldn't be majority rule, for it is seldom the voice of God. The accord of the elders and unity of the body one in the Spirit and mission should pass judgment, with the personal rights: "I dissent, I disagree, I protest," according to our legacy a Protestants.
We need to adjourn the methodology of welcoming members aboard by virtue of talking the talk and knowing some jargon, but be forthcoming about what we are doing and teach the biblical way including renouncing sin, having saving faith, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit; for we are members of The Way--let's proceed like we know it (and I'm not being nitpicky), instead of performing a sham for God, trying to make people feel good. Call it what it is (and it's not certifying salvation), and do it the right, biblical way. Soli Deo Gloria!